Redstone protecting itself from cyber threats

With the recent cyber hacks worldwide and the threat of attacks here, Redstone Arsenal is taking a proactive approach.

Army Materiel Command's cyber division chief, Dawn Dunkerley, said the Arsenal is all about prevention and making sure to take the right steps to counter any sort of cyberattack before the hackers can get through.

The major cyberattack on tens of thousands of computers and accounts in more than 100 countries has been in the news since last Friday. The problem is now seeping into the United States. There's concern for anyone who owns a device with access to the Internet.

With Redstone being home to dozens of important contracting departments and organizations, protecting that information is vital.

"The Army and Redstone as a whole takes this very seriously. I think we are taking active measures right now to make sure no matter the scale and scope of any incident that we are getting out ahead of it now rather than reacting to it later," said Dunkerley.

There are several departments that live on Redstone. Dunkerley said each one would have a group doing cyber protective activity.

AMC's cyber division said they are currently assessing the impact and keeping a very close eye on this threat.

"Good cyber hygiene doesn't change. Protecting yourself, not only from a government organization perspective, down to the personal perspective, really is about keeping your systems at the most current operating system. Making sure you keep the patches where they are automatically updating so that you don't have to think about it or remember. Making sure that when you get emails you are verifying that they are authentic and not clicking on links or attachments that you're not familiar with," Dunkerley said.

The cyber division chief also said that if you're a Redstone employee, this could affect you at home. She said to be just as careful there as you are at work.